The Principles of Aesthetics
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Terry Rose
-
Jason Leikam
About this listen
The Principles of Aesthetics can be considered the definitive work on aesthetics, the philosophy of art, beauty, and taste. It is the result of a series of lectures given by Dewitt H. Parker, and gives a comprehensive review of a truly extensive subject. Every person has some sense of the beautiful and the ugly. We all admire certain images, combinations of sound, taste, smell, or feeling. But where does this enjoyment come from? If our tastes were all alike, we could find precise formulae that define the beautiful and discover the keys to the nature of art. But our tastes differ from one person to the next, and even from one moment to the next. This is what makes beauty a mystery. Art is a grasping at the intangible reality that surrounds and transcends our attempts to order the world. This is what makes the philosophy of aesthetics so fascinating. At the very least, it gives us insight into our nature as human beings. At best, it can let us glimpse the nature of truth beyond reason and intention.
It has been said that art imitates nature. Perhaps some ephemeral quality of the natural world is reflected in our sense of beauty and taste. The philosophy of aesthetics is focused on these questions. It delves into the mysterious pool from which artists and poets derive their inspiration. With this piece, Dewitt H. Parker gives us a beautiful and thorough introduction into a field that points towards the mysteries of the human experience. A summary precedes the full narration, giving a biography of the author, as well as an overview, synopsis, and analysis of the work.
The summary is capped by a brief look at the historical context of Dewitt's work, as well as the criticism and social impact it evoked.
©2017 AudioLearn (P)2017 AudioLearnListeners also enjoyed...
-
Aesthetics
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Bence Nanay
- Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, Bence Nanay introduces the field of aesthetics, considering both Western and non-Western aesthetic traditions and exploring why it is sometimes misunderstood or considered to be too elitist - by artists, musicians, and even philosophers. As Nanay shows, so-called "high art" has no more claims on aesthetics than sitcoms, tattoos, or punk rock.
-
-
Critique of 'Western' Aesthetics - A Virtue Signal
- By Mr Timothy Webber on 10-05-21
By: Bence Nanay
-
Beauty
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, the renowned philosopher Roger Scruton explores the concept of beauty, asking what makes an object - either in art, in nature, or the human form - beautiful and examining how we can compare differing judgments of beauty when it is evident all around us that our tastes vary so widely.
-
-
Introduction to Beauty
- By Adam Shields on 05-03-19
By: Roger Scruton
-
The Aesthetic Brain
- How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art
- By: Anjan Chatterjee
- Narrated by: Bernard Setaro Clark
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Aesthetic Brain takes the listener on a wide-ranging journey through the world of beauty, pleasure, and art. Chatterjee uses neuroscience to probe how an aesthetic sense is etched in our minds and evolutionary psychology to explain why aesthetic concerns feature centrally in our lives. Along the way, Chatterjee addresses fundamental questions: What is beauty? Is beauty universal? How is beauty related to pleasure? What is art? Should art be beautiful? Do we have an instinct for art?
-
-
Disappointing
- By Clara on 12-22-15
By: Anjan Chatterjee
-
Critique of Judgement
- By: Immanuel Kant
- Narrated by: Michael Lunts
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Critique of Judgement was published in 1790 and is divided into two parts, the Critique of Aesthetic Judgement and the Critique of Teleological Judgement. Our ‘judgements of taste’, as Kant describes our aesthetic judgements, have both a personal and a universal function: personal, because we have a subjective aesthetic response to the ‘agreeable’, the ‘beautiful’, the ‘sublime’ and the ‘good’; but also there is a ‘universal’ aspect because our aesthetic response has a ’disinterested’ element. This brings under Kant’s spotlight, for example, the concept of beauty and the perception of beauty.
-
-
Great Philosophic Treatise
- By No to Statism on 09-30-18
By: Immanuel Kant
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music
- By: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Duncan Steen
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of Nietzsche’s earliest works, The Birth of Tragedy (1872) is a remarkable source of inspiration. It is here that the philosopher expresses his frustration with the contemporary world and urges man to embrace Dionysian energy once more. He refutes European culture since the time of Socrates, arguing that it is one-sidedly Apollonian and prevents man from living in optimistic harmony with the sufferings of life.
-
-
The Apollonian vs The Dionysian
- By JCW on 02-05-18
-
Aesthetics
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Bence Nanay
- Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, Bence Nanay introduces the field of aesthetics, considering both Western and non-Western aesthetic traditions and exploring why it is sometimes misunderstood or considered to be too elitist - by artists, musicians, and even philosophers. As Nanay shows, so-called "high art" has no more claims on aesthetics than sitcoms, tattoos, or punk rock.
-
-
Critique of 'Western' Aesthetics - A Virtue Signal
- By Mr Timothy Webber on 10-05-21
By: Bence Nanay
-
Beauty
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, the renowned philosopher Roger Scruton explores the concept of beauty, asking what makes an object - either in art, in nature, or the human form - beautiful and examining how we can compare differing judgments of beauty when it is evident all around us that our tastes vary so widely.
-
-
Introduction to Beauty
- By Adam Shields on 05-03-19
By: Roger Scruton
-
The Aesthetic Brain
- How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art
- By: Anjan Chatterjee
- Narrated by: Bernard Setaro Clark
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Aesthetic Brain takes the listener on a wide-ranging journey through the world of beauty, pleasure, and art. Chatterjee uses neuroscience to probe how an aesthetic sense is etched in our minds and evolutionary psychology to explain why aesthetic concerns feature centrally in our lives. Along the way, Chatterjee addresses fundamental questions: What is beauty? Is beauty universal? How is beauty related to pleasure? What is art? Should art be beautiful? Do we have an instinct for art?
-
-
Disappointing
- By Clara on 12-22-15
By: Anjan Chatterjee
-
Critique of Judgement
- By: Immanuel Kant
- Narrated by: Michael Lunts
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Critique of Judgement was published in 1790 and is divided into two parts, the Critique of Aesthetic Judgement and the Critique of Teleological Judgement. Our ‘judgements of taste’, as Kant describes our aesthetic judgements, have both a personal and a universal function: personal, because we have a subjective aesthetic response to the ‘agreeable’, the ‘beautiful’, the ‘sublime’ and the ‘good’; but also there is a ‘universal’ aspect because our aesthetic response has a ’disinterested’ element. This brings under Kant’s spotlight, for example, the concept of beauty and the perception of beauty.
-
-
Great Philosophic Treatise
- By No to Statism on 09-30-18
By: Immanuel Kant
-
Determined
- A Science of Life Without Free Will
- By: Robert M. Sapolsky
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robert Sapolsky’s Behave, his now classic account of why humans do good and why they do bad, pointed toward an unsettling conclusion: We may not grasp the precise marriage of nature and nurture that creates the physics and chemistry at the base of human behavior, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Now, in Determined, Sapolsky takes his argument all the way, mounting a brilliant (and in his inimitable way, delightful) full-frontal assault on the pleasant fantasy that there is some separate self telling our biology what to do.
-
-
Abridged - no Appendix!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-02-23
-
The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music
- By: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Duncan Steen
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of Nietzsche’s earliest works, The Birth of Tragedy (1872) is a remarkable source of inspiration. It is here that the philosopher expresses his frustration with the contemporary world and urges man to embrace Dionysian energy once more. He refutes European culture since the time of Socrates, arguing that it is one-sidedly Apollonian and prevents man from living in optimistic harmony with the sufferings of life.
-
-
The Apollonian vs The Dionysian
- By JCW on 02-05-18
-
Art as Experience
- By: John Dewey
- Narrated by: Tim Lundeen
- Length: 17 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his Introduction, Abraham Kaplan places Dewey's philosophy of art within the context of his pragmatism. Kaplan demonstrates in Dewey's esthetic theory his traditional "movement from a dualism to a monism" and discusses whether Dewey's viewpoint is that of the artist, the respondent, or the critic.
-
-
Dense, but enlightening!
- By Elaine Beth Williams on 10-03-15
By: John Dewey
-
A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful
- By: Edmund Burke
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Philosophical Enquiry, Edmund Burke sets out to define the nature of beauty and sublimity, and establish an objective criterion for discussing aesthetics. His definition of beauty as rooted in pleasure and sexuality, and the sublime in pain and survival, aligned him with the empiricists John Locke and David Hume, as he replaced the metaphysics of Plato's aesthetics with a psychological and physiological perspective.
-
-
Ought to be read more
- By Easy Rhino on 06-19-21
By: Edmund Burke
-
Illuminations
- Essays and Reflections
- By: Walter Benjamin, Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Walter Benjamin was an icon of criticism, renowned for his insight on art, literature, and philosophy. This volume includes his views on Kafka, with whom he felt a close personal affinity; his studies on Baudelaire and Proust; and his essays on Leskov and Brecht’s epic theater. Illuminations also includes his penetrating study “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, an enlightening discussion of translation as a literary mode, and his theses on the philosophy of history.
-
-
finally
- By Anonymous User on 12-08-21
By: Walter Benjamin, and others
-
Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
-
-
Wonderful
- By Michael on 11-30-13
By: Will Durant
-
What Are You Looking At?
- The Surprising, Shocking, and Sometimes Strange Story of 150 Years of Modern Art
- By: Will Gompertz
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is modern art? Who started it? Why do we either love it or loathe it? And why is it such big money? Join BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz on a dazzling tour that will change the way you look at modern art forever. From Monet's water lilies to Van Gogh's sunflowers, from Warhol's soup cans to Hirst's pickled shark, hear the stories behind the masterpieces, meet the artists as they really were, and discover the real point of modern art.
-
-
A simply wonderful book with a serious flaw
- By 11104 on 05-02-21
By: Will Gompertz
-
The Enlightenment
- The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790
- By: Ritchie Robertson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 40 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This magisterial history - sure to become the definitive work on the subject - recasts the Enlightenment as a period not solely consumed with rationale and reason, but rather as a pursuit of practical means to achieve greater human happiness.
-
-
The quickest 40 hour audio book I’ve listen to
- By Joey Caster on 04-02-21
-
Reductionism in Art and Brain Science
- Bridging the Two Cultures
- By: Eric R. Kandel
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 4 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Are art and science separated by an unbridgeable divide? Can they find common ground? In this book, neuroscientist Eric R. Kandel, whose remarkable scientific career and deep interest in art give him a unique perspective, demonstrates how science can inform the way we experience a work of art and seek to understand its meaning. Kandel illustrates how reductionism - the distillation of larger scientific or aesthetic concepts into smaller, more tractable components - has been used by scientists and artists alike to pursue their respective truths.
-
-
Nothing new or original
- By clifford on 01-13-20
By: Eric R. Kandel
-
A History of Western Philosophy
- By: Bertrand Russell
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 38 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Considered to be one of the most important philosophical works of all time, the History of Western Philosophy is a dazzlingly unique exploration of the ideologies of significant philosophers throughout the ages - from Plato and Aristotle through to Spinoza, Kant and the 20th century. Written by a man who changed the history of philosophy himself, this is an account that has never been rivaled since its first publication over 60 years ago.
-
-
Russell's Philosophy, Some History Included
- By Donald on 06-19-21
By: Bertrand Russell
-
No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life
- By: Robert C. Solomon, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Robert C. Solomon
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is life? What is my place in it? What choices do these questions obligate me to make? More than a half-century after it burst upon the intellectual scene - with roots that extend to the mid-19th century - Existentialism's quest to answer these most fundamental questions of individual responsibility, morality, and personal freedom, life has continued to exert a profound attraction.
-
-
Good for even a non-existentialist
- By Gary on 07-24-15
By: Robert C. Solomon, and others
-
The Ethics of Aristotle
- By: The Great Courses, Father Joseph Koterski S.J.
- Narrated by: Father Joseph Koterski S.J.
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this 12-lecture meditation on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, you'll uncover the clarity and ethical wisdom of one of humanity's greatest minds. Father Koterski shows how and why this great philosopher can help you deepen and improve your own thinking on questions of morality and leading the best life. The aim of these lectures is to provide you with a clear and thoughtful introduction to Aristotle as a moral philosopher.
-
-
Father Joseph is awesome!
- By DeeDeen on 04-08-17
By: The Great Courses, and others
-
Mythologies
- The Complete Edition, in a New Translation
- By: Roland Barthes, Annette Lavers - translator, Richard Howard - translator
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Roland Barthes's groundbreaking Mythologies first appeared in English in 1972, it was immediately recognized as one of the most significant works in French theory - yet nearly half of the essays from the original work were missing. This new edition of Mythologies is the first complete, authoritative English version of the French classic. It includes the brilliant "Astrology", never published in English before.
-
-
Fun and engaging
- By Chris Hall on 01-08-19
By: Roland Barthes, and others
-
The Gift
- How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World
- By: Lewis Hyde
- Narrated by: Stephen Bowlby
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A modern classic cherished by many of the greatest artists of our time, The Gift is a brilliant, life-changing defense of the value of creative labor. Drawing on examples from folklore and literature, history and tribal customs, economics and modern copyright law, Lewis Hyde demonstrates how our society - governed by the marketplace - is poorly equipped to determine the worth of artists’ work.
-
-
Revised edition of an already vast treatment
- By Kevin on 04-21-24
By: Lewis Hyde
Related to this topic
-
The Romantic Manifesto
- A Philosophy of Literature
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this beautifully written and brilliantly reasoned collection of essays, Ayn Rand throws new light on the nature of art and its purpose in human life. Once again, she demonstrates her bold originality and her refusal to let conventional ideas define her sense of the truth. Rand eloquently asserts that one cannot create art without infusing it with one's own value judgments and personal philosophy - even an attempt to withhold moral overtones only results in a deterministic or naturalistic message.
-
-
Essential AYN
- By Mica on 07-15-08
By: Ayn Rand
-
The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music
- By: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Duncan Steen
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of Nietzsche’s earliest works, The Birth of Tragedy (1872) is a remarkable source of inspiration. It is here that the philosopher expresses his frustration with the contemporary world and urges man to embrace Dionysian energy once more. He refutes European culture since the time of Socrates, arguing that it is one-sidedly Apollonian and prevents man from living in optimistic harmony with the sufferings of life.
-
-
The Apollonian vs The Dionysian
- By JCW on 02-05-18
-
The Master and His Emissary
- The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World
- By: Iain McGilchrist
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 27 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This pioneering account sets out to understand the structure of the human brain - the place where mind meets matter. Until recently, the left hemisphere of our brain has been seen as the "rational" side, the superior partner to the right. But is this distinction true? Drawing on a vast body of experimental research, Iain McGilchrist argues while our left brain makes for a wonderful servant, it is a very poor master.
-
-
The Master and His Emissary
- By Michael on 11-07-20
By: Iain McGilchrist
-
The Art Instinct
- Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution
- By: Denis Dutton
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Art Instinct combines two of the most fascinating and contentious disciplines, art and evolutionary science, in a provocative new work that will revolutionize the way art itself is perceived. Aesthetic taste, argues Denis Dutton, is an evolutionary trait, and is shaped by natural selection. It's not, as almost all contemporary art criticism and academic theory would have it, "socially constructed".
-
-
A breath of fresh air!
- By Michael on 02-19-14
By: Denis Dutton
-
Irrational Man
- A Study in Existential Philosophy
- By: William Barrett
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widely recognized as the finest definition of existentialist philosophy ever written, this book introduced existentialism to America in 1958. Irrational Man begins by discussing the roots of existentialism in the art and thinking of Augustine, Aquinas, Pascal, Baudelaire, Blake, Dostoevski, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Picasso, Joyce, and Beckett. The heart of the book explains the views of the foremost existentialists - Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre. The result is a marvelously lucid definition of existentialism and a brilliant interpretation of its impact.
-
-
heady
- By A. Antine on 07-28-22
By: William Barrett
-
The Life of the Mind
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Considered by many to be Hannah Arendt's greatest work, published as she neared the end of her life, The Life of the Mind investigates thought itself, as it exists in contemplative life. In a shift from her previous writings, most of which focus on the world outside the mind, this work was planned as three volumes that would explore the activities of the mind considered by Arendt to be fundamental. What emerged is a rich, challenging analysis of human mental activity, considered in terms of thinking, willing, and judging.
-
-
English only please
- By angela cozea on 11-20-19
By: Hannah Arendt
-
The Romantic Manifesto
- A Philosophy of Literature
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this beautifully written and brilliantly reasoned collection of essays, Ayn Rand throws new light on the nature of art and its purpose in human life. Once again, she demonstrates her bold originality and her refusal to let conventional ideas define her sense of the truth. Rand eloquently asserts that one cannot create art without infusing it with one's own value judgments and personal philosophy - even an attempt to withhold moral overtones only results in a deterministic or naturalistic message.
-
-
Essential AYN
- By Mica on 07-15-08
By: Ayn Rand
-
The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music
- By: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Duncan Steen
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of Nietzsche’s earliest works, The Birth of Tragedy (1872) is a remarkable source of inspiration. It is here that the philosopher expresses his frustration with the contemporary world and urges man to embrace Dionysian energy once more. He refutes European culture since the time of Socrates, arguing that it is one-sidedly Apollonian and prevents man from living in optimistic harmony with the sufferings of life.
-
-
The Apollonian vs The Dionysian
- By JCW on 02-05-18
-
The Master and His Emissary
- The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World
- By: Iain McGilchrist
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 27 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This pioneering account sets out to understand the structure of the human brain - the place where mind meets matter. Until recently, the left hemisphere of our brain has been seen as the "rational" side, the superior partner to the right. But is this distinction true? Drawing on a vast body of experimental research, Iain McGilchrist argues while our left brain makes for a wonderful servant, it is a very poor master.
-
-
The Master and His Emissary
- By Michael on 11-07-20
By: Iain McGilchrist
-
The Art Instinct
- Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution
- By: Denis Dutton
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Art Instinct combines two of the most fascinating and contentious disciplines, art and evolutionary science, in a provocative new work that will revolutionize the way art itself is perceived. Aesthetic taste, argues Denis Dutton, is an evolutionary trait, and is shaped by natural selection. It's not, as almost all contemporary art criticism and academic theory would have it, "socially constructed".
-
-
A breath of fresh air!
- By Michael on 02-19-14
By: Denis Dutton
-
Irrational Man
- A Study in Existential Philosophy
- By: William Barrett
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widely recognized as the finest definition of existentialist philosophy ever written, this book introduced existentialism to America in 1958. Irrational Man begins by discussing the roots of existentialism in the art and thinking of Augustine, Aquinas, Pascal, Baudelaire, Blake, Dostoevski, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Picasso, Joyce, and Beckett. The heart of the book explains the views of the foremost existentialists - Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre. The result is a marvelously lucid definition of existentialism and a brilliant interpretation of its impact.
-
-
heady
- By A. Antine on 07-28-22
By: William Barrett
-
The Life of the Mind
- By: Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Considered by many to be Hannah Arendt's greatest work, published as she neared the end of her life, The Life of the Mind investigates thought itself, as it exists in contemplative life. In a shift from her previous writings, most of which focus on the world outside the mind, this work was planned as three volumes that would explore the activities of the mind considered by Arendt to be fundamental. What emerged is a rich, challenging analysis of human mental activity, considered in terms of thinking, willing, and judging.
-
-
English only please
- By angela cozea on 11-20-19
By: Hannah Arendt
-
The Courage to Create
- By: Rollo May
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What if imagination and art are not, as many of us might think, the frosting on life but the fountainhead of human experience? What if our logic and science derive from art forms rather than the other way around? In this trenchant volume, Rollo May helps all of us find those creative impulses that, once liberated, offer new possibilities for achievement. A renowned therapist and inspiring guide, Dr. May draws on his experience to show how we can break out of old patterns in our lives.
-
-
May takes on the Creative Act
- By Lowball on 01-16-19
By: Rollo May
-
The Renaissance
- Studies in Art and Poetry
- By: Walter Pater
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Published to great acclaim in 1873, Walter Pater’s compendium of idiosyncratic, impressionistic essays on the Renaissance gained him a reputation as a daring modern philosopher. Oscar Wilde called it the “holy writ of beauty.” It was Pater’s cry of “art for art’s sake” that became the manifesto for the aesthetic movement. He believed that art should be sensual and that beauty should rank as the highest ideal. Marked by elegant fluency, Pater’s essays discuss Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and other artists who, for him, embodied the spirit of the Renaissance.
-
-
Wanda McCaddon and Pater = 😍
- By Tyler on 02-01-21
By: Walter Pater
-
On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason
- By: Arthur Schopenhauer
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is a cause, or a reason, behind everything that happens. This is the fundamental view behind the classical proposition the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which, in 1813, Schopenhauer chose as his subject for further examination in his doctoral dissertation On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason....
-
-
I’ve enjoyed this program
- By M.Biblioswine on 04-23-20
-
The Discarded Image
- An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature
- By: C. S. Lewis
- Narrated by: Richard Elwood
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Discarded Image paints a lucid picture of the medieval worldview, providing the historical and cultural background to the literature of the middle ages and renaissance. It describes the 'image' discarded by later years as "the medieval synthesis itself, the whole organization of their theology, science, and history into a single, complex, harmonious mental model of the universe". This, Lewis' last book, has been hailed as "the final memorial to the work of a great scholar and teacher and a wise and noble mind".
-
-
I hope more of Lewis's scholastic stuff is coming
- By James on 04-01-21
By: C. S. Lewis
-
The Soul of the World
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Soul of the World, renowned philosopher Roger Scruton defends the experience of the sacred against today’s fashionable forms of atheism. He argues that our personal relationships, moral intuitions, and aesthetic judgments hint at a transcendent dimension that cannot be understood through the lens of science alone. To be fully alive - and to understand what we are - is to acknowledge the reality of sacred things.
-
-
"Against Reductionism"
- By Edmund Schilvold on 10-08-15
By: Roger Scruton
-
Civilization and Its Discontents, Totem and Taboo
- By: Sigmund Freud
- Narrated by: Martyn Swain
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is remembered as the father of psychoanalysis. Civilization and Its Discontents (1930) is one of his key works, written three decades after his seminal book The Interpretation of Dreams. In it he considers the conflict between the needs of the individual acting both egotistically and altruistically in the pursuit of happiness and the myriad demands of civilised society and the ensuing tensions this clash of needs and demands generates.
By: Sigmund Freud
-
Why We Are Restless
- On the Modern Quest for Contentment
- By: Benjamin Storey, Jenna Silber Storey
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We live in an age of unprecedented prosperity, yet everywhere we see signs that our pursuit of happiness has proven fruitless. Dissatisfied, we seek change for the sake of change - even if it means undermining the foundations of our common life. In Why We Are Restless, Benjamin and Jenna Storey offer a profound and beautiful reflection on the roots of this malaise and examine how we might begin to cure ourselves.
-
-
Good primer.
- By Chris on 09-29-21
By: Benjamin Storey, and others
-
The Hedgehog and the Fox (Second Edition)
- An Essay on Tolstoy's View of History
- By: Isaiah Berlin, Henry Hardy - editor, Michael Ignatieff - foreword
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny
- Length: 2 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." This ancient Greek aphorism, preserved in a fragment from the poet Archilochus, describes the central thesis of Isaiah Berlin's masterly essay on Leo Tolstoy and the philosophy of history, the subject of the epilogue to War and Peace. Although there have been many interpretations of the adage, Berlin uses it to mark a fundamental distinction between human beings who are fascinated by the infinite variety of things and those who relate everything to a central, all-embracing system.
-
-
The Fox Who Tried To Be A Hedgehog
- By Rich S. on 12-14-21
By: Isaiah Berlin, and others
-
Modern Man in Search of a Soul
- By: Carl Jung
- Narrated by: Christopher Prince
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Modern Man in Search of a Soul is the classic introduction to the thought of Carl Jung. Along with Freud and Adler, Jung was one of the chief founders of modern psychiatry. In this book, Jung examines some of the most contested and crucial areas in the field of analytical psychology: dream analysis, the primitive unconscious, and the relationship between psychology and religion.
-
-
Could have almost been an automated text reader
- By Chicken Love on 04-24-15
By: Carl Jung
-
On Augustine
- By: Rowan Williams
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since his retirement as Archbishop of Canterbury and his return to academic life (Master of Magdalene College Cambridge), Rowan Williams has demonstrated a massive new surge of intellectual energy. In this new audiobook, he turns his attention to St Augustine. St Augustine not only shaped the development of Western theology, he also made a major contribution to political theory ( The City of God) and, through his Confessions, to the understanding of human psychology.
-
-
thoughtful take.
- By Michael McGuire on 04-17-22
By: Rowan Williams
-
The Art of the Novel
- By: Milan Kundera, Linda Asher - translator
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kundera brilliantly examines the work of such important and diverse figures as Rabelais, Cervantes, Sterne, Diderot, Flaubert, Tolstoy, and Musil. He is especially penetrating on Hermann Broch, and his exploration of the world of Kafka's novels vividly reveals the comic terror of Kafka's bureaucratized universe. Kundera's discussion of his own work includes his views on the role of historical events in fiction, the meaning of action, and the creation of character in the postpsychological novel.
-
-
Informative and Inspiring
- By Mo on 11-27-21
By: Milan Kundera, and others
-
The Gay Science (The Joyful Wisdom)
- By: Friedrich Nietzsche
- Narrated by: Michael Lunts
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Gay Science (The Joyful Wisdom) is one of Nietzsche's greatest books. His wonderfully fertile mind roams over mankind, his thoughts, his emotions, his behaviour and his weaknesses with remarkable clarity, with insight - but also with humour!In this work are 383 separate paragraphs, some short, some long, but all singular observations - the epitome of his famous aphoristic style. 'Morality is the herd instinct in the individual.'
-
-
I am now a full-fledged fan of Nietzsche
- By RS on 02-24-18
What listeners say about The Principles of Aesthetics
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Philosopher King
- 02-13-17
The Why of Beauty Explored!
What did you love best about The Principles of Aesthetics?
Before I get into this, I have to share my bias. I’ve always been in the camp that thinks art can’t be broken down into objective intellectual terms. So I found some resistance when listening to this piece, but only at the start. Parker explores beauty from the angle of the philosopher and psychologist, sure, but he also has a clear passion for art itself and has immersed himself in the subject for this passion’s sake. He does provide some definitions of art and beauty, though he explores these definitions from a subjective angle as well as the more stolid and uptight angle preferred by some earlier aesthetic philosophers.
With regard to the analytical breakdown, Parker describes each piece of art as a combination of sensation and feeling. He explores how different forms of art approach sensation, like tones for music, color and line for painting, letters and words for literature, and how this sensation can be used to convey both immediate feelings, and specific ideas. The psychological element of this bit is fascinating to me, as there is a specific feeling conveyed by the color red, for example, or by a certain pitch or tone. I feel that some of the best artists have an instinctive understanding of this, using our innate response to color, line, form, and tone to evoke gut-level feelings. The neat thing about it is that these feelings are vague but definite, having a clear impact, but at a subconscious level. Even more interesting is that they must be employed with the grace and intuition of a master. To attempt to use lines colors and forms intentionally to generate these feelings can come off as clumsy. Subtlety is the key.
Parker also explores how these basic elements of a piece are combined to produce definite images, with convey even more specific feelings or ideas. While our innate response to certain colors or tones may have its roots in universal human nature, the response we have to specific ideas or suggestive imagery is rooted in our personal associations. This speaks towards the difference in response we feel when encountering a piece of art. None of us has the same associations or exactly the same way of thinking or feeling about the world. Art is a beautiful union of the subjective and the objective, or a meeting of the inner world of the artist with our own inner world.
Parker takes this as far as providing a standard, “a two-part criterion for the interpretation of art.” Now, I’m not so sure about this. His criterion is first: does the art express the artist’s intention? Even parker recognizes that we can’t be sure of this. And most of the artists that I have known weren’t so clear about their intention when creating a piece, and sometimes even after. So this bit seems too intellectual and left-brained for the subject of aesthetics.
The second aspect of the criterion is: does our interpretation lead us away from the sensual medium or towards it? I’m even less certain of this than the first part. Parker’s reasoning is that the value of a piece cannot be rooted solely in the subjective, that if it is only our interpretation that makes it beautiful, then it is not one of those pieces of beauty that has universal appeal. I suppose I can see this, but I’m not sure anything has universal appeal. We learn our lenses, the filters through which we view the world. We can learn to see beauty in things that might have been nondescript or even ugly to us before. And the learning of these filters is largely invisible to us.
Either way, Parker goes on to explore the qualities that make a piece truly beautiful, and in this respect, I really enjoyed his breakdown. He works with Plato’s definition of harmony, simplicity, and proportion. Now, as the description stands, it leaves much to be desired. But Parker explores each of these qualities, applying them to a number of different mediums. He looks at simplicity as unity, the capacity for a piece to hang together as a unit, rather than as a collection of different sensations, images, or ideas. Harmony can come in a variety of ways, through a collection of elements that work together, or through an opposition of elements that balance one another. I suppose what really appeals to me here is his exploration of the psychology and effect of each of these styles of unity or harmony. However, I think that these ideas will be more effective for the art critic than for the artist.
Once Parker explores the fundamental nature of art in itself, as well as the subjective nature of taste, he addresses specifically a number of different mediums. Music, poetry, prose, painting, and architecture. I have to say that there were quite a few insights in this section of the work. I’m fairly familiar with literature, painting and music, but I had never really taken a good look at architecture. Once again, the link between the structure of a building and the subjective influence upon someone within it is fascinating to me. Also, although I’m willing to grant that architecture is art, I feel that an intellectual understanding of the subjective impact can be of use to the architect or engineer, should they choose to take the human effect into account. These are understandings that can be effectively employed by a builder to intentionally craft the aesthetics of their work.
The final sections of the work explore the function of art itself. Here, I have to give Parker credit. Although he explores the purpose of art from the perspective of a “rational man,” his passion for beauty and the aesthetic shine through. He speaks as a lover of art, rather than as a cold and analytical philosopher. Art as a means of uniting with the larger sphere of life, as a method to rediscover meaning in a modern world which has become stale and empty. He views the aesthetic principle as something that can guide societal conduct more effectively than any form of morality. I might not fully agree with him on all counts, but his expression of this was enough to win me over. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in art, either for purposes of creation or appreciation. I feel, just as Parker intends, it can expand the appreciation of the enthusiast and spark inspiration in the artist.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- milsorgen
- 01-04-23
The Beautiful Experience
Beauty is often neglected in today's world but even more neglected is the study of aesthetics and aesthetic experience. This book serves as an invaluable resource for anyone looking to take a survey of the field with text written in our modern era, leaving it more approachable than many of the philosophical texts that form the underpinnings of it all. Even if you go no further in aesthetics than this book it behooves you to explore this title for it offers much more than any single title has a right to.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 12-02-19
Amazing performance
Thanks to author and narrator for this gem! Great and informative insight for any creative person
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!